Designed by Pleasants Pennington and Albert W. Lewis, it was built in 1922 over a six-month period at the urging of the Mayor, William F. Broening in a previously undeveloped area just north beyond the city's iconic rows of rowhouses.

[6] In its early years it hosted various public and private high school and college-level games, including the annual "City - Poly Game" on the regular Thanksgiving Day "double-header where the "Collegians" (later known as the "Black Knights" in reference to their iconic "Castle on the Hill") of Baltimore City College opposed its rival Baltimore Polytechnic Institute "Engineers" (since 1889), along with the Roman Catholic high schools' "Loyola - Calvert Hall" Game pitting the Cardinals of Calvert Hall College against Loyola High School at Blakefield's Dons.

Home games for the University of Maryland at College Park's Terrapins football and the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen were sometimes held at the stadium, attracting a national audience and media coverage.

The initial plan called for a single, horseshoe-shaped deck to be built, with the open end facing north, and was designed to host football as well as baseball.

The lower deck reconstruction began in the spring/early summer of 1949 and was done in stages, first at the previously open south end of the stadium, and slowly obliterating the old Municipal Stadium stands, even as the International League Orioles continued playing on their makeshift diamond, along with the new Baltimore Colts of the former All-America Football Conference merged with the reorganized National Football League.

[9] The campaign made an impression and Baltimore, then the sixth largest city in the United States, was awarded an expansion team for the 1953 NFL season.

[9] With the NFL back and realistic rumors simultaneously circulating of the arrival of major league baseball, the second deck construction was begun during the summer of 1953.

Inside, more than 46,000 watched the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–1, to win their home opener and move into first place (although temporarily) in the American League.

[10] Both the new Orioles and the Colts had some great successes over coming years, with both teams becoming among the winningest and competitive franchises in their respective leagues during the late 1950s and throughout the decade of the 1960s.

[12] In 1970, Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom announced that he was seeking a 500 acre parcel in one of three suburban Baltimore counties for construction of a new stadium.

[13] A new $20 million football-only facility was planned, with Rosenbloom adamant that the team would be leaving Memorial Stadium expeditiously due to unhappiness with stadium conditions and ongoing irritation over a September legal dispute with the city over whether a Monday Night Football game could be hosted at the site — a dispute which Rosenbloom characterized as "the end of the road.

On July 13, 1972, businessman Robert Irsay made a last-minute bid of $19 million to purchase the Los Angeles Rams from the estate of Dan Reeves.

Irsay began to visit other cities, moving various civic leaders to put together stadium packages that would provide a better financial and physical situation for the Colts.

In the middle of a snowy night on March 29, 1984, under threat of a measure introduced into the state legislature to initiate condemnation proceedings for the city and state assert eminent domain and take ownership of the Colts franchise, moving vans rolled in and the Colts rolled out for their new Indiana home.

While the stadium events may have created periodic disruptions to local life, it did provide easy access to major league sports and special attention from the city for maintenance of the area.

To do this, area community groups formed the "Stadium Neighborhoods Coalition" (SNC) and negotiated the following: (1) Establishment of an official Memorial Redevelopment Stadium Task Force with public meetings and minutes; and, (2) a written pledge by then Mayor Schaefer to provide upfront funding for any demolition and redevelopment resulting from this community process.

The Bowie Baysox, a minor league affiliate of the Orioles, played their inaugural 1993 season at Memorial Stadium while their permanent home ballpark was being built.

The Baltimore Stallions played during the Canadian Football League's "southern expansion" experiment to the United States for two seasons in 1994 and 1995.

Owner Jim Speros took over the facility, exchanging tickets to contractors for renovations to help bring the dilapidated stadium to workable condition.

[16] The CFL Stallions were ultimately forced out of town when Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced he was moving his team to Baltimore.

Mayor Martin J. O'Malley, however, favored the proposal that resulted in the total razing of the stadium, an act that many fought and protested.

[citation needed] Approximately 10,000 cubic yards (7,600 m3) of concrete rubble from it was used to build an artificial reef over a 6-acre (2.4 ha) site in the Chesapeake Bay 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Tolchester Beach in 2002.

All of this, the political wranglings, the sports history and the city's attachment to a doomed landmark was captured in a documentary, "The Last Season, The Life and Demolition of Memorial Stadium."

There was also a plan initially to keep the front of the stadium as a dedication to commemorate all who served America during both World Wars, but it had to also be taken down because alone, it was structurally unsafe.

The addition of several rows of box seats also reduced the foul ground, ultimately making the stadium much more of a hitters' park than it was originally.

Shortly before the tragedy, Orioles management had decided to open the stadium's upper deck to Safety Patrol members who were still arriving by game time, after early-arriving children had filled the bleachers.

The airplane, a Piper Cherokee, buzzed the stadium, and then crashed into the upper deck overlooking the south end zone.